HONOLULU — Hawai'i Pacific University collected its second sweep in as many matches as the Sharks beat Fresno Pacific 3-0 in PacWest play on Thursday night at James Castle Gym at St. Andrew's Priory.
The Sharks (10-7, 6-2) won for the sixth time in their last eight matches with a 25-16, 25-18, 25-19 victory over the Sunbirds (5-8, 3-6) in the match that lasted a little more than an hour.
"We were comfortable here at home and the girls came out of the box really strong and stuck with the game plan," said HPU coach
Jenic Tumaneng. "I'm proud of them. They stayed focused on the match."
And while the teams were tied five times during the match, the Sharks never trailed.
Senior
Pomai Recca, the 5-9 outside hitter from Waimanalo, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama, and freshman
Perla Escobar, the 5-9 outside hitter from Calexico, Calif./Calexico, both just missed double-doubles in the quick three-set match. Recca led the match with 12 kills and added nine digs, while Escobar posted nine kills with 11 digs as she hit .571.
The Sharks also worked well defensively, with 11.0 team blocks to 8.0 for FPU. Junior middle blocker
Lea Felton of Sacramento, Calif./St. Francis, notched six blocks to lead HPU and sophomore middle blocker
Carson Pyle of Houston, Texas/Memorial, tallied five blocks.
The Sharks set the tone early, jumping out to a 7-2 lead in the first set and extending it to 17-7 before cruising to the 25-16 set win.
HPU broke open a tight second set by using a 7-1 run to gain command. The Sharks used strong passing game to hold a nine-point lead, then held on for the 25-18 decision.
The final set saw Fresno Pacific battle, but the Sunbirds could never grab a lead from the Sharks. But a 6-0 run behind Recca's serving and a 6-1 run later in the set was too much for FPU. Recca got the match winner on a big slam for a 25-19 final.
"The game was a good one for our confidence and build on to get ready to face Dixie," said Tumaneng.
The Sharks face PacWest leading Dixie State on next on this seven-match homestand. Dixie State brings an unbeaten PacWest record into a match at BYU-Hawaii on Friday night before visiting the Sharks on Saturday night at Castle Gym. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
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